German banks to cut ix stakes

By

Peter Wilson-Smith

May 8, 2000 5:00 pm GMT

The big German banks will be forced to reduce their effective shareholdings in iX, the merged Deutsche Börse and London Stock Exchange (LSE), to no more than 4.9%, according to Don Cruickshank, chairman designate of LSE and iX.

The ownership structure of iX is one of several aspects of the deal that bankers are worried about. This is because iX will be 50% owned by Deutsche Börse, which is dominated by the big German banks, and the other 50% will be spread among the 298 members of the LSE.